Only three in ten adults know all the ways HIV can be transmitted, while twenty percent of them have no idea condom-less sex between a man and a woman or a man and a man is a high risk activity, according to a survey of Brits conducted by the National AIDS Trust, the non-profit dedicated to HIV/AIDS education and prevention. Those statistics of stupidity, however, make more sense when you hear that of the same pool of respondents, one in ten believe kissing/spitting can transmit HIV, while only 45 percent understood sharing needles actually will. PICK UP A PAMPHLET, YOU FUCKING MORONS. Until you know the facts, you don’t deserve to have sex. I’m not even kidding. One in five people don’t know bareback sex puts you at risk for HIV? That figure should be zero in six billion.

Daaaaamn. Before I tell the Brits to get it together, I’d have to stop and wonder if we in the US would fare much better. One would hope, b/c these stats are sad!

Feb 18, 2011 at 12:47 pm · @Reply ·

EdWoody

@redball: Indeed – I was assuming by the title that it was the US we were talking about, and was rather surprised that it was the UK. The British education is generally more thorough than the American one, not to mention less puritanical about sex education. So this surprises and disappoints me also.

Feb 18, 2011 at 2:06 pm · @Reply ·

Bill

I read a comment on a blog from a raging homophobe a few weeks back.

As he understood it, semen mixed with feces (not exactly how he phrased it) is what creates HIV.

@Bill: Maybe what he really thought was that semen mixed with feces crated him

Feb 18, 2011 at 3:32 pm · @Reply ·

Mark

This is unfortunate but i actually have experience with people this stupid. I remember dating a guy once who didnt quite understand that bareback sex could transmit the disease. not only that but he thought it wasnt a big deal because there was a cure for it lmao. Needless to say the relationship didnt go anywhere because of unrelated but yet predictable reasons.

Feb 18, 2011 at 5:00 pm · @Reply ·

Cam

Um…wow…who the hell didn’t know that Needles can spread HIV?!?!?!?

Feb 18, 2011 at 5:15 pm · @Reply ·

John B

bareback sex between to monogamous people won’t spread or cause you to have STDs.

bareback sex between to monogamous people won’t spread or cause you to have STDs.

That depends on whether the partners are disease free when they get together. Not every couple gets tested and exchanges results before starting to have sex, and some STDs are hard to test for.

Feb 18, 2011 at 6:36 pm · @Reply ·

Ian

This is not shocking at all! Republicans push for abstinence only sex ed in schools. Majority of states are Red and republican run. Therefore majority of people dont know about safe sex. Also look at the teenage pregnancy rates in abstinence only educated states, heres a newsflash…its the highest!

Feb 18, 2011 at 7:34 pm · @Reply ·

jason

Bareback sex is perfectly healthy if the two people doing it are healthy. You won’t catch any venereal disease, basically. I say if you’re both healthy, go for it. Don’t let the anti-bareback crowd get to you. Most of them are promiscuous morons who project their promiscuity onto healthy people.

Message to the anti-bareback crowd: not all of us are promiscuous. In fact, many of us are very moderate in our sex lives. We don’t go to bath-houses to fuck total strangers. We don’t cruise truck stops to pick up an anonymous fuck from someone who is driving from LA to Austin. We don’t pick up the first guy who catches our eye in the gay bar. We don’t go cruising international destinations for new consquests.

Therefore, do us a favor and fuck off. We are perfectly entitled to have bareback sex with other healthy people.

Feb 18, 2011 at 7:45 pm · @Reply ·

Jeffree

@jason: Someone who “appears” healthy could still have HIV. Someone who doesn’t know he’s seroconverted can still pass on the virus. Someone who has had sex only with one person in the last 3 months could still pass on the virus. Low risk does NOT equal NO risk.

Are you checking your men for needle marks too? Have you been trained to do that? Do you check results and date on their most recent HIV test?

You need to get an education. Before you get infected or infect someone else.

Feb 18, 2011 at 8:26 pm · @Reply ·

Glenn Beck

But the Brits continue to believe the myth that they have a superior culture to Americans or anyone else, and that they are smarter. Maybe they should lay off the beer and get common sense training? We know that your empire fell and it’s difficult to cope with that sober reality, but please don’t abandon common sense like sharing needles and bare-backing will expose you to STD transmission.

Then pay the actual fucking cost to the healthcare system that you incur when you catch HIV.

Each nitwit – such as yourself – who contracts what is an easily preventable disease under voluntary circumstances, should be forced to pay the hundreds of thousands – possibly millions – that their infection costs the healthcare system over their lifetime.

Feb 19, 2011 at 12:16 am · @Reply ·

James

@jason:
It only takes one encounter be it a promiscuous one or a moderate one.

Feb 19, 2011 at 2:40 am · @Reply ·

Ted from Cali

Condoms aren’t fail proof, either. One moderate or promiscuous fuck during which the condom fails will potentially cause you to contract HIV or some other STD. Or misuse of the condom. Basically, all sex carries a risk. So don’t have any. Because we’ve all forgotten that anything (and I mean anything) we do in life has a risk and a consequence. Now let’s go shake in our boots as we ponder this.

Feb 19, 2011 at 3:04 am · @Reply ·

Scotty

@jason: A little harsh don’t you think Jason? Actually some of what you said is little naive in and of itself. “Healthy people”? So if you meet someone at a club (or anywhere else for that matter) and they say, “I’m a healthy person let’s fuck” you just automatically believe them? It’s that type of mentality that has the AIDS epidemic going strong. Unless you’re talking about a truly monogamous couple, your statement is no more educated than that in which you judge.

Feb 19, 2011 at 3:32 am · @Reply ·

jason

If your encounter is with a healthy person, you won’t catch anything no matter how many times you have bareback sex with him.

If your encounter is with a promiscuous person, your chances of catching something are increased.

Take home message: get to know the person you’re attracted to, don’t fuck on the first date, don’t mix within a promiscuity paradigm.

I know it’s pretty hard for some gay men to do. After all, your social scene is built on promiscuity.

Feb 19, 2011 at 7:32 am · @Reply ·

declanto

@Glenn Beck: Your namesake would be proud of the bigotry and arrogance you display in your Oh-so-superior put-down of British culture.

Feb 19, 2011 at 7:34 am · @Reply ·

Oli

@Glenn Beck: I’m fairly sure that America has a worse HIV problem than the UK. Not that that really means anything regarding culture but don’t you think its a bit silly to attribute the results of this survey to your view of the British consciousness of empire/lack of?

Feb 19, 2011 at 8:41 am · @Reply ·

Chris

@Jason You’re an idiot, plain and simple. There’s really nothing else to say other than that.

Everyone knows you get it from toilet seats or eating in the same restaurant as a gay person. At least that is what they teach us here in Texas.

Feb 19, 2011 at 12:17 pm · @Reply ·

Zack

I think it’s because there is not that horror those of us who in the 80s/90s lived through. I don’t think a lot of guys today even know of anyone who has died of AIDS like men of my age do. A past boyfriend of mine died 16 years ago this month, (love ya babe xox ) .

So to many, it’s only an illness on paper that a pill advertized in a gay magazine will take care of.

Feb 19, 2011 at 8:17 pm · @Reply ·

Oprah

OK lets not kid ourselves please. I dont believe the 20% survey. Even a moron living in a cave knows HIV is a “Gay” disease. (therefore, by this implication, man to man high risk) The survey should actually concetrate on the straight people who still believe HIV cannot reach them. Think again, with all this ‘metro sexual’ going ons and the usual ‘bisexuals’–HIV is becoming everybodys nightmare. Just buckle up, and you wont cough HIV semen. :)

Feb 19, 2011 at 10:51 pm · @Reply ·

Oprah

Guys– i dont see the fuss about being on Jason’s case. He is basically defending himself against the movement to ban bareback. According to him, bareback sex plus promiscuity, equals STD.That is a fact. But here is the downer-if you are un-promiscuous, what guarantees your partner from straying away.There are countless gay people who have contracted the deadly disease via their careless, dumb partners. Another fact of gay culture is, as men,habbits and stereotypes do no change.Just hope you partner with a level headed man, and have an open communication. By this i mean, the conversation should be: Hey, you can cheat me, i dont have to know, but-at least do me a favo;NEVER,EVER have bareback sex with a stranger. If i get this disease because of you, i am going to kill you. Plain and simple. lol

Feb 19, 2011 at 11:11 pm · @Reply ·

Rob

Did anyone see What Would You Do the other night? One of the scenarios had an HIV+ man eating at a diner; people refused to sit next to him, be served food by him, or even use the same menu. Even after they revealed he was an actor, one guy refused to shake his hand. Absolutely infuriating.

Feb 19, 2011 at 11:30 pm · @Reply ·

redball

@Rob: Wow. Do you know what town they were doing this in? Just out of curiosity.

Reminds me of that show Oprah did about an HIV+ man who was enduring discrimination from practically his entire town, and the townsfolk had all kinds of scientifically inaccurate paranoia about how they could catch the virus. That was in the 80s or early 90s, I believe.

I wonder how much we have actually improved in the last 20 years.

Feb 19, 2011 at 11:51 pm · @Reply ·

OneOfTwins

I’ll be in the minority here, but I think 4 out of 5 people knowing bareback sex can transmit HIV is pretty good. Still the majority. I bet many in the general population (in the western world) don’t even think about anal intercourse in any way at all. Maybe that 1 out of 5 are really old people who never have sex anyway and have their own lives going on where HIV is really just a “faraway” subject to them that they don’t think about much, at least not the specifics of it.

Feb 20, 2011 at 3:43 am · @Reply ·

Brian Miller

One moderate or promiscuous fuck during which the condom fails will potentially cause you to contract HIV or some other STD.

Oh, c’mon.

Get real.

The massive upswing in HIV infection rates in the UK (and many cities in the USA) is not due to an epidemic of condom failures. It’s due to lazy, shortsighted, stupid, selfish behavior.

Feb 20, 2011 at 2:35 pm · @Reply ·

Danny

No. 12 · jason

Bareback sex is risky.
Therefore, do us a favor and PLEASE DON’T fuck with anyone else’s health and life.

– With the stigma against HIV and AIDS some guys do not reveal that they are positive.
– Many HIV positive people DO NOT know their status.
– With the stigma against Sexually Transmitted Infections some guys do not reveal they have one.
– Many guys DO NOT know or refuse to accept they have a Sexually Transmitted Infections

I would never have bareback sex with a stranger but I would have tons of bareback sex with a person I know to be monogamous and who is certifiably healthy. If you’re out on the scene picking up total strangers, your overall behavior is putting you at risk and not just the act of bareback.

Bareback sex is not risky per se. Bareback sex with a stranger with a questionable background may pose a risk.

Take home message: bareback is OK if both parties are OK health-wise.

Feb 21, 2011 at 7:57 am · @Reply ·

jason

Oprah,

AIDS is not a disease, it’s a condition. It’s important to understand this.

AIDS is a condition of immune deficiency, which makes the body vulnerable to diseases it would normally be able to counter. Immune deficiency in humans can be caused by many factors including drug use, poor diets, lack of sleep etc etc. The popper drug amyl nitrate is known to destroy the immune system of rodents, for instance.

The immune deficiency that is associated with AIDS is believed to be caused by HIV but that is not absolutely clear-cut. There is a substantial school of thought which believes that HIV does not cause immune deficiency and that it is merely a virus of association.

Feb 21, 2011 at 8:06 am · @Reply ·

Oli

@jason: there may be a “substantial school of thought” which denies HIV infection causes Aids, but they are as discredited as holocaust deniers. It is the most fantastically stupid and irresponsible load of rubbish to propagate. It IS as clear cut as HIV causes AIDS. All the evidence is there. The use of HAART to treat HIV positive people proves this beyond any shadow of a doubt. There just are not any reputable scientists who still believe that rubbish. People want to believe what they want to believe. As with zealots everywhere they take a view on a subject, then use the evidence to “prove” their view, rather than looking at the evidence and trying to figure it out. I genuinely find it incredible that anyone would seriously put these views forward. Its plain dangerous.

Feb 21, 2011 at 9:40 am · @Reply ·

Jeffree

@Jason: You are putting your own life at risk due to some untrue information you read in the 1990s. Don’t risk others’ lives.

Those voices in your head are not telling you the truth. Your cannot detect who is healthy.

Feb 21, 2011 at 10:00 am · @Reply ·

Oprah

Jason,

Really? Seriously? HIV is not a disease? So, the HIV virus in the blood of HIV/AIDS patients is not a disease? A condition? Thats a politically correct terminology. I am not opposed to using the word, but lets get something straight: HIV is a disease. And for Gods sake, do not compare HIV imune compromising abilities to lack of nutrition or sleep. HIV virus destroys your immune system– while lack of sleep or drugs doesnt even make a dent. The next thing you will say is– Terminally Cancer is not a disease. Anything that renders your immune system weak is a disease in my estimation. If you are opposed to the word disease–because it has a ‘judgement’ connotation, then i get it. But HIV/AIDS is a deadly disease, oh excuse me, it is a deadly “Condition”, dont under-play it or sugar coat it.

Feb 21, 2011 at 2:02 pm · @Reply ·

FlopsyMopsyCT

I think the comments for this article perhaps demonstrate what the real problem is with HIV education and prevention. Several people make it out to be the most horrible deadly disease, or, on the other extreme, a condition that may or may not cause AIDS. Some people seem to think that having sex with a positive person even with a condom poses great risk of infection, etc.. There is no consistency here and I think that’s the real problem here; there is no consistent data out there on HIV transmission (or if there is, it’s difficult to find). My friend recently started dating an HIV+ guy, and he came and asked me what I thought the likelihood of him contracting the disease was, even if they were safe. Honestly, I had no idea, can you engage in sex with a HIV+ person, while protected, with little risk? How likely is it that you will get HIV if you have unprotected sex with an HIV+ person? I don’t know that statistic either. Does anyone actually know how likely it is to get HIV from unprotected oral sex? I don’t, I’d imagine not too many people on this board do either. A study that addresses these kinds of concern would be really functional and interesting.

Feb 21, 2011 at 3:33 pm · @Reply ·

Oprah

FlopsyMopsyCT

If you want facts on HIV–u can get it very easily nowadays. In age of google and wealth of online informations- including, studies, researches etc etc. Your friend dating a HIV positive person is a BIG mistake. BIG. First of all, i doubt that–the infected person would return the favor had your friend been the ‘positive’ one. Second of all, lets say he dates this infected person, how can you possibly have ‘enjoy’ the assuming the ‘SAFE SEX’? How can you have sex without thinking…..AIDS AIDS AIDS. Or CONDOM BREAK. CONDOM BREAK. I mean. seriously? Thats rather a big risk. No man is more important than ‘ME’. And yes, AIDS is a serious deadly disease. Imagine taking daily medicine,being weaker than average person,immune wise i mean. Thinking of AIDS in every desicion you make–Should i wear a heavy jacket for the cold wind outthere? Should i be careful not to fall and cut myself, and therefore take for ever to heal?Did i forget my medicine, therefore increase the chance of the virus becoming zelously fierce on me? Can you answer these questions? Are you prepared?I advice positive people to date positive people, it is appropriate and fair.

I feel sorry for people living with HIV, my heart goes out to them, they are humabeings after all, but lets get real.

Feb 21, 2011 at 5:06 pm · @Reply ·

Alex

Wow… being from London I’m shocked that this was done in the UK, but at the same time also not shocked.

A lot of you aren’t taking into account that this wasn’t a gay only survey though, if it was the results would probably have been much different. As Un-PC as it is to say, the very fact that homophobia still exists means that (the majority of) straight people are dumber than us by default, and taking into account the younger generations have everything censored and padded for them before they go out and do stupid things… again really not surprised.

Having said that though, a lot of you on here need to get off your high horse seriously… someone mentioned the British empire and how Brits think we’re smarter than everyone else… what a load of shit!! as if that very statement doesn’t imply that you as an American think you’re the one who’s smarter than everyone else lol, totally irrelevant to the topic! and as several others also said, they *expected* the results were actually from a US survey, so please do come down off that horse it’s exhausted from carrying the combined weight of your massive ego and hypocrisy

back on topic, the only reason people are STILL this stupid in this day and age is religion (the prime suspect behind most levels of censorship). period. There are some religions which are more of a philosophy, and don’t make direct imperatives on how to live your life, but other than those few all religion needs to fuck off if we’re going to get smarter as a race. Either that or people will just have to learn how to make their own decisions without some book telling them if it’s ok or not.

Feb 23, 2011 at 1:08 pm · @Reply ·

Alex

@Oprah:
telling other people that its a mistake to date someone with hiv is stupid, discrimination, and a whole host of other nasty small mindedness that you need to keep to yourself.

if you would find it horrifyingly scary, fair do’s, that’s your opinion. telling other people that its wrong and a “BIG” mistake is something you really don’t have the right to do, especially saying crap like “they wouldn’t return the favor” you don’t even know the person!

btw hiv is NOT aids, one causes the other, they don’t just happen instantly at the same time, half of the stuff you’re saying right there is proof that you yourself don’t actually know a lot about the topic. This is why information is inconsistent, because people who aren’t qualified and who haven’t done any research go around giving their friends and other people advice based on their own ideas and call it facts.

Feb 23, 2011 at 1:23 pm · @Reply ·

Alex

This actually has me so pissed off. not only that people are ignorant of how hiv can be transmitted, but also knowing that people who haven’t bothered to really gain any information about it, feel the need to broadcast their opinions as facts when they clearly have no idea what they’re talking about.

I’m 24 year old gay male and I’m currently dating someone who is hiv+, someone I’ve known my whole life, and I know exactly how he got it, and I know it has nothing to do with promiscuity, it was just a cruel turn of events that ended that way, and what most of you are saying sickens me! By your way of thinking, he should be condemned to a life where no one in their right mind would even look at him twice, with no chance of finding happiness with another person, and no chance of having sex ever again.

So what does that leave? It leaves exactly the kind of behaviour that you all are so quick to say is wrong. It leaves anyone with hiv no other option than to hide their status for fear of being shunned and ridiculed, and it leaves them with no other perceived option, than to just have short term partners because they won’t feel that anyone would ever accept them long term due to fear.

you’re all so quick to condemn these people, and yet you take no responsibility for the fact that your own small mindedness, and stereotyping, down right IGNORANCE, and all the other nasties that you think up towards people with hiv, leaves the majority of them feeling as though they *should* hide instead of being honest about their situation. Obivously each individual is different, some people are honest some people aren’t, but when you blatantly paint a whole group of people a certain way, saying that once they’re known -this is the way you’ll be treated- YOU SHOULD NOT BE SURPRISED WHEN THEY ALL HIDE FROM YOU!!! I’m assuming we’re all gay here so you REALLY should not be surprised considering we’ve all f*cking been through it!

Feb 23, 2011 at 1:49 pm · @Reply ·

richard

@jason:
barebacking really truely and safely should only be done with your life partner after you are tested for all s.t.i./s.t.d. or v.d. whatever you want to call H.I.V. or syphilis, etc… and get tested every 6 months just to be safe.

Feb 24, 2011 at 1:38 am · @Reply ·

Oprah

Alex ….ok point taken.Geez. But i was under the assumption that i was answering FlopsyMopsyCT open question on what to do.I guess i should clarify that was my opinion, and no means a dogma to follow.

BTW…i do know AIDS AND HIV are not the same. Actually, technically they are the same. Its only semantics. Eventually, HIV infected person will have full blown AIDS. Isnt that a fact?As to your relationshiop with your HIV + friend, congratulations. More power to you. :)

Feb 24, 2011 at 9:47 pm · @Reply ·

Alex

@Oprah:
No, “technically” they are not the same thing, and no it’s not a fact that anyone with hiv will eventually get aids.

“but I was under the assumption” and yet there you are again flouting your own opinion and then having “isn’t that fact?” tacked on the end. But please feel free to keep digging… I could get a bigger shovel if you like?

Feb 25, 2011 at 6:54 am · @Reply ·

Oprah

“tacked on the end”

LOL@Alex

You seem defensive and antagonistic. Ok, ok i guess i am not going to win here. You are right, i am wrong. Happy now? Now, can you ship me over some fish and chips? love em’. lol